I'm Back!

It seems I have gotten back control of this account!  Blogging will ensue.

Would you buy all your stuff again?

I opened the top closet in our apartment and took down my snowboard.  I had only just recently used my snowboard for the first time in a few years.  The padding on the bindings for some reason started to peel and got my snowboarding pants covered in black smears, like I’d walked through an ash pit.  “Well, these bindings have got to go,” I thought.  I unhooked them and put them in the Craigslist/Freecycle pile.

Then I got out my little luggage weigher and decided to check how much the snowboard and case weighed.  I hooked up the little device to the snowboard bag and suspended it in the air for a moment.  I was shocked when I saw the device read 5kg.  Wait!  5kg!?

I did the math quickly in my head.  “Okay, so it’s about 950 yen, at the cheapest, to send 1kg, and this is 5, so I’m looking at paying almost 5,000 yen (around $60) to bring my snowboard home.”  Or in other words, I am buying my snowboard again for $60. 

It’s already mine.  But, if I want to keep it, I have to pay for it.  That is how I am looking at all of my possessions as I get ready to move back to the US.  Each 1kg book, 10kg box of tools, or 10kg bike must be analyzed.

1kg book:  Would I pay $10 for the chance to read this again?  No, I wouldn’t.  Freecycle it is. 

15kg of Videogame stuff (including consoles, games, controllers, etc.  This estimate is probably high):  I do play a lot of games, and I could sell it for more than that back home.  Okay, it goes.  But I am very picky which games make the cut.

Bike:  This is a no brainer.  The bike has already paid for itself, plus.  It’s coming with me.

In the end weight is the most important, but still I’m having to buy my stuff again if I want to keep it.  I like looking at it as if I’m in a store and have a choice to buy or not.  If I really feel like I wouldn’t buy it in a store it goes into the Craigslist/Freecycle pile.

So far no DVDs, books, comic books, nor toys have made the cut.  It’s not looking good for the snowboard either.

Recent Sell/Buy

I've been meaning to update my portfolio for a while but just haven't gotten around to it.  Now seemed like a good time though, as I've done some pruning and building of my portfolio as of late.  My first move was a sell:

Sold 195.196 shares of ARCP @ $9.41

This completely cleared out my position in ARCP.  I have to be honest that this initial investment was a grab at a high yield REIT.  Then the news came out that they put out bogus numbers, just about very head honcho hit the chopping block, and they cut their dividend.  They did say that their underlying business is solid, which hey, I like that, and that's what had me holding on till now.  I was down about fifty percent on this position when it hit sevenish dollars per share.  I hung on till now as it recovered but, I need dividend income dang it!  This waiting around to see what happens does not bode well for me.  So, I'm taking my loss and moving forward.  My original investment in ARCP came in two waves totaling $2554.49 including fees, and I received $183.18 in dividends, for a grand total of  $2737.67.  I've ahold all of my position for $1836.79.  My total loss is -$900.87 or almost 33%.

This is not good of course, but it's also a good lesson for me to learn.  On the whole I'm still up, but sometimes you just need to cut your losses.  I'm out of the ARCP drama now.

I've also learned the value of investing in the old boring stall worts of the industry.  Which is why I turned around and used about half the capital from my ARCP sale to:

Buy 30 shares of AT&T @ $32.96

This is my second splash into T, and it's always treated me right.  Recent weakness made a great opportunity to add here.  Infact, I went to bed putting in the order and woke up richer as the stock had increased overnight!  You gotta like that!  Plus, I don't see AT&T going anywhere but up.  They have a great history of increasing their dividend, and people love their data.  I'm very comfortable with my position here.

The rest of the money I'll be putting to work elsewhere, but it won't be in my optionsxpress account.  I'll write about it later.

2014

2014 was certainly a year of changes for me.  My job changed from a drudge to a delight, as I shifted from teaching junior high school to high school.  The GF and I visited Dubai, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and South Korea, all for the first time ever.  We made a major life decision to move back to the USA, and leave the teaching industry.  And, we started, and continue to, decompress our lives, only hanging onto things we really need.

In the midst of all of this I'm still marching towards FI.  The funny thing is, I don't really think about it much anymore.  Saving and investing are just natural reactions to me now.

Having said that, and now that the Kechi One's fiscal year (January 15-January 14) is over I can report that I saved 49% of my income from 2014!  This is shy of my goal which was at least 50%, and I'd have been happier with 55%, but again this was with taking trips, eating out, giving presents, etc.

My portfolio is now fluctuates around $80,000 and puts out over $2,000 a year in dividends.  I've got a ways to go, but I'd say I've made huge strides.  I started investing in 2012, and in three years I feel I've built a solid foundation to spring forward from.

I haven't invested in any new positions since November, as I'm saving my money for the move coming up in March/April.  Depending on the job situation, I'm not sure if I'll be able to initiate anything new till June or July.  I'm very excited for the future and can't wait to make more progress in 2015.

I hope you all had a great 2014, and best of luck in 2015!

Decompression

My GF and I spent most of the last two and a half weeks on vacation.  It’s one of the perks of being in the education field, that I will sincerely miss, when I return to the real world in the next few months.

We were quite productive, however.  One of the goals I’ve been aiming for in this whole process is an easy and smooth move.  Moving from one country to another is already a cluster without the added stress of looking for a job, a place to live, meeting old friends, hooking up a new cell phone, bills, etc. etc.  The smoother and less stressful I can make this will allow me to put energy into other tasks.

After living in Japan for almost eight years, you would imagine that I have acquired a lot of “stuff.”  Well, despite that fact I thought I was being frugal and cutting back, you’d be right.  Both the GF and I had acquired a lot of possessions.  What to do!?  Decompress.  I find the stress of a move is directly correlated with how much you have to move.  Multiply that by ten if you’re moving overseas.  Decompressing your life is the easiest way I’ve found (other than not acquiring things in the first place) to make moving easier.

Here are some tips I’ve discovered about making your move overseas as painless as possible:

1.  Time is your friend.

If you are thinking of moving, even if it’s a year away, start now!  I can’t stress this enough.  No matter how much stuff you think you DON’T have, you probably have three times that.  Look at all those books, games, DVDs, comic books, clothing…  Remember that guy that moved away and gave you all those plastic bins, Guitar Hero guitars, mini cooler, and small BBQ?  Yep, you need to deal with that now, and the sooner you start the better.

The one thing I absolutely wanted to avoid was hauling everything out to the curb and letting the garbage man take care of it.  Why?  I think, first and foremost, that throwing things away is the coward’s way out.  That’s some strong language, but you’re the one who acquired it, deal with it like an adult.  Just throwing your problems down a whole for future generations to deal with is stupid, irresponsible, and a waste.  The person who is willing to own up to what they have acquired and responsibly reallocate it is rare indeed.  I’m not trying to toot my own horn here, but the volume of things we’ve given away vs. thrown away is on the scare of 99 to 1.  That is a ratio I can deal with.

All of this takes time.  A lot of time.  You have to go through every book, game, box, suit case, bag, closet, pantry, medicine cabinet, storage closet, and backpack and choose what you really need and what is just fluff.  The sooner you start the better.

Another reason I don’t want to just throw things away is that it’s actually really expensive to throw away things in Japan.  Many times, if you want to throw away shelves, plastic bins, or anything oversized, you have to pay for it.  I’m all for this!  I think you should have to pay to be wasteful.  Maybe if this policy were enacted in more places we would see less waste.  I’ve met many a foreigner who put a dresser or table out on the curb for garbage pickup, only to be met with a notice saying they have to pay for its removal.  

Give yourself time to go through your stuff, separate out what you want and what you don’t want.

2.  Freecycle and Craiglst are your best friend.

What do you do with what you don’t want?  Freecycle (FC) an Craigslist (CL).  Those plastic bins I keep referring to have gone to a better place.  The book shelves that held all my videogames have been dismantled and are awaiting pickup.  Our kitchen table and chairs were given away along with the bedroom mirror.

I’m all for selling what you can.  I’ve done that as well.  My George Foreman grill works really well and still has value.  I have time, so I’m willing to see if it will fetch 1,000 yen on CL.  Our Apple TV doesn’t play well with our modem so it went for 6,000 yen.  But, six perfectly usable wine glasses?  I don’t think we could even get 100 yen.  So they are free.  We received two fans that work perfectly for free.  Free in, free out.

3.  Build up a community.

Now that I’ve interacted with over a dozen people via FC and CL, I often find when I have something new to give away I’ll just email people directly. Several people have asked me to contact them if I have other things to give away. I have one guy who lives in the same neighborhood who I email before I post anything as he is usually very interested.  Is he building up his own doomsday?  I can’t live other people lives.  I hope he really needs these items and uses them.  If it keeps them out of a landfill, I’m all for it.

Things start to fly out the door when you have someone who is already interested, knows where you live, and likes your stuff.

4.  Make your stuff presentable.

Nobody wants to pick up garbage and bring it to their house.  So, clean up your old things to make them look nice.  This also works with the last point, as someone who likes the look and quality of your things will likely be willing to come back and take more.

This might all seem common sense.  And yet, year after year I see friends, co-workers, and neighbors make a mad rush for the garbage bin.  Do us, and yourself, a favor.  Start early, freecycle your stuff, and don’t let it happen again.

Changing Lanes

Fluctuations in the market over the last several weeks had my portfolio looking like Fujiyama at Fujikyu High Lands.  That's okay for the most part.  I wish I could have taken advantage of the dip but actually I'm done deploying capital for the foreseeable future.  I'm not getting out of investing, but a change of lanes on the road of life has me focusing elsewhere.

You see, about a month ago I was asked if I wanted to re-contract and do another year at my job.  I had to tell them "No."  My supervisor, and Vice Principal were both very taken aback, and I could see it was not the answer they were expecting.  I explained to them that this was the best, and longest, job I've ever had in my life.  The rewards, and challenges, were second to none, but alas, I have to move on.

Why do I have to move on?  Well, there are a few things I'm not satisfied with and I'll outline them here (in no particular order).

The Job:  One of the big things about being teacher is, of course, the students.  I get to have an impact on the lives of young people.  Not just in how I teach English, but for many of them it might be their first time interacting with a foreigner on a face to face level.  It excites me that my job is meaningful.  But, I was also the head supervising teacher of the school International Education class. This was a special class where I could teach any curriculum I wanted to a small number of students who were motivated to speak, read, write, and listen to English.  This program is ending in March.  My other classes consist mostly of conversational English, or writing classes.  I enjoy these as well, but really the International Program was the real treat.

The Exchange Rate:  For anybody that takes notice of FX, the yen is at it's weakest it's been in years. This is of course good for Japanese exports, but as someone who get's paid in the Japanese yen, it makes it very difficult to send money home.  I was very lucky to have lived and worked in Japan at the opposite end of the spectrum.  From 2010 to the end of approximately 2012 the yen was so strong it was causing headwinds for Japanese companies.  I, however, reaped huge benefits from this as my salary compared to that of Teachers (or even high tech companies) was ballooning.  It made sense to say and work in Japan when I could easily send half of my salary home and get $2,000 plus!  It also made sense to work extra jobs, and find side gigs as they also "paid more."  Well, that's all over now.  

My Pay:  As an English teacher in Japan, I was making a great salary.  Trust me when I say, the direct contract with a private school is the way to go.  It pays more than a third more then most Eikaiwai jobs, and more than any other ALT job with the added benefit of being in control of your classes.  However, my contract raise ends this year.  That is, before for every year that I re-contracted, I would receive an extra 120,000 yen a year or, a bump of 10,000 yen a month.  Pretty good!  Well it sounds nice, but actually it's a little under 3% and barely keeping up with inflation.  That being said, most other jobs don't even touch that number.  However, that annual contract raise was not part of me signing a new contract for a fifth year.

The Challenges:  I suppose a better title where would be "Lack of Challenge."  When I came to my school I was a lost little puppy, trying to make his way out of his box.  But now, I own the box.  I've become a great teacher, if I do say so myself (and I do!), and therein is part of the problem.  The challenges don't really  humble me anymore.  I do my best with each lesson I create, but I don't feel like it takes my best anymore to create a great lesson.  

Japan:  I love Japan.  This place is my home now.  I enjoy the convenience of the trains, the drinking culture, and the safety net I feel at all times.  But, it's also grown too comfortable.  I remember when I first came to Japan and everything was new and exciting.  The idea of going out to Shinjuku now just doesn't hold the same air of excitement it did even just a few short years ago.  Sure, I'm getting older, and my tastes are changing, but I find myself no longer interested in even studying the language.  I've plateaued.  I'm read to move on and one day come back to Japan fresh, and hopefully financially independent.

Home:  I've said it before, Japan is my home.  I will always consider Japan a place were I can take my shoes off and relax by the fire (or under the kotatsu is a better analogy).  But, I still have friends and family back in the states that I haven't seen for years.  I'm really looking forward to reconnecting with people.

I could probably go on and on, but I'll stop there.  Life is such a strange beast when you stop and look at it.  Almost eight years ago I got off the plane at Narita Airport not sure of my future.  Now, looking forward, I'm in a very similar position.  I'm not sure were my life will lead me in the coming months, but I have to say that I am filled with so much more confidence. 

When I stepped off that plane eight years ago I was almost $40,000 in debt.  Now I have an $80,000 plus portfolio that provides almost $2,500 in income annually.  Sure, I'm not going to be living the high life on that, but I know that I always have money for food.  If worst comes to worst I'll be able to eat while I study to learn a new skill, or go through interviews.

It's very sad to think I'll be leaving Japan.  I have so many good memories here, and it will be difficult to make the transition back to life in the states.  But, in the end, it will help me grow and improve as a person, meaning I'll enjoy it just that much more when I come back.

Portfolio Update November 2014

I've had little bit of action in the last month, including a sell.  I'm pretty happy with the way things are going lately!

I recently decided to get some money back to work for me in my Vanguard account, so when my money hit my account I decided to put $2300 into the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares (VTSMX).  Things brings me up to a total of $8571.56 in VTSMX and 166.537 shares.  My average cost per share is $47.380 and the current price as of this writing is $51.47.

I have been looking at getting more money to work for me in the stock market as a whole.  I am very often torn between the Dividend Mantra "seek out strong companies at a good value," and the Jim Collins "just throw into in an Vanguard index fund and forget it," methods of thinking.  They both make very valid arguments!  So rather than throw all my eggs into one basket I've been using both methods to invest.  So far it's been working great!  I'm up on all Vanguard accounts, and there have been very few losses on the individual company front.

One day I think I'd like to move everything to index funds as it's less to think about, but catching huge yields on companies like on SBSI or NSC has kept my looking for the next opportunity in DGI.

My portfolio's total value cracked $80,000 for the first time every just before I made this last purchase.  A new five digit value is something that I like and keep me motivated.  After this last purchase my portfolio was at $82,296.  Not bad for an English teacher right?

 Rounding out the action was actually a sell order.  Back in I got in on the GoPro IPO via Loyal 3.  I managed to get in about $250 at an average price of around $32.  GoPro has seen it's up and downs, but I decided to sell my position here for a few reasons.  First and foremost, GoPro doesn't pay a dividend.  I'm not sure if they will start to pay a dividend or not.  Second, GoPro was just a fun thing I tried as I had never been part of an IPO before.  I honestly wasn't sure what it was going to do, but it's been up as much as 150% at times.  I've held the stock for almost six months now however and realized it's time to take my money somewhere else.  It was fun, but this stock doesn't really belong in my portfolio.  To be honest Twitter is also on this list, but I'll wait a little bit longer.  Finally, I figured it's a good time to sell for tax reasons.  I'm still going to be way under the line for taxable income and this was a good time to sell.

All in all I'm feeling very good!